Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, a prominent Sierra Leonean politician from the All People’s Congress (APC) known for her controversial analyses, has addressed recent misconceptions regarding disaggregated election results.

Blyden spoke out on AYV Television after a fellow APC member erroneously claimed on television that disaggregated results had been published in past Sierra Leonean elections. Blyden refuted this, asserting that the statement was misleading and could potentially harm the peace and stability of Sierra Leone.

In her clarification, Blyden provided a historical analysis of previous elections. She cited the 2007 elections, when then-electoral commissioner Dr. Christiana Thorpe published only district-level results on the commission’s website, not disaggregated results. Blyden noted that upon reviewing these district-level results, she found mathematical inconsistencies, which she reported in her newspaper. This led to the immediate shutdown of the website.

Blyden continued, stating that after the 2012 elections, she requested disaggregated results from Dr. Thorpe in February 2013 to assess her party’s strengths and weaknesses. However, Dr. Thorpe declined her request, offering reasons Blyden chose not to disclose publicly.

She further explained that in 2018, she approached the Supreme Court seeking disaggregated results due to concerns about the voter registration process overseen by Mohamed N’fah-Alie Conteh. Blyden revealed that only partial disaggregated results were released for two out of five regions in 2021, just as the court case was about to commence.

Blyden affirmed that throughout Sierra Leone’s electoral history, including the colonial era, disaggregated results have never been published. She urged those spreading misinformation to cease for the sake of the country’s peace.